Why Monaco’s royal family doesn’t have kings or queens

By Meaghan Wray

August 15, 2018

Monaco has so
much going for it, from
Prince Albert and Princess
Charlene
’s
adorable family to the latter’s unwavering sartorial prowess, but there is one
mystery that reigns where the tiny country is concerned: Why are there no kings
or queens? Royal Families in countries like Britain, Sweden and Norway boast
the esteemed titles, but Monaco does not. The answer is simple, really, and can
be boiled down to history and geography.

Monaco’s size
is one major factor. With a population of just 38,000, the Mediterranean nation
tended to ally itself with much larger countries for protection, according to Britannica. Thus, Monaco didn’t require its
own king or queen because it answered to another nation, and so it was only
ruled by a prince or princess.

Despite the
longevity of Monaco’s royal family, which outlasted many of Europe’s bigger
monarchies, the title and tradition remained. And as most royal fans would know,
royalty is all about tradition and history. Prince Albert, 42, elaborated on
this while appearing on an episode of
Larry
King Weekend
back in 2002: “Well, because Monaco is a principality, Larry,
and so therefore the title of prince, which was taken back in the 17
th
century by Prince Henry the II … made it so that Monaco was recognized as a
principality by the king of France.” Larry asked if this means there are
princes and not kings, to which Albert responded, “That’s right.”

When it comes
to the line of succession for their throne, one would think it would complicate
things given the fact that the couple had an adorable set of twins,
three-year-old
Princess
Gabriella
and Prince Jacques. But Monaco has not been as
progressive as Britain, where daughters are now given equal footing to sons in
the line of succession.
People reported that the country gives
priority to boys, so though Jacques is technically two minutes younger than his
sister, he is still first in line to the throne after his father.

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